Automatic coin-tester for coin-freed apparatus.



H. WOLLHEIM.

AUTOMATIO COIN TESTER FOR (JOIN FREBD APPARATUS. APPLICATION rum) JUNE 14, 1909.

980,040, Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

\ APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, 1909.

Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

'2 SHEETS-SHEBT 2 1 J apparatus and .UNTTED STATES- rA'rENT OFFICE.

HEINRICH WOLLHEIM, OF BERLIN, GERMANY, ASSI GNOR TO THE AMERICAN STAMP & TICKET VENDING MACHINE COME'ANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

980,040. Originalapplication filed November 27,

To all whom it'may 000mm:

Be it known that I, HEINRICH WQ'LLHEIM, manager, a subject'of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Berlin, in the Empire of Germany, have invented. certain new and useful Im rovements in- Automatic Coin- Testers for Coin-Freed Apparatus, of which 1 the following is a s ecification. This invention re ates'to a coin controlled is adivision of theapplication filed Nov', 27, 1908, Serial No. 464592. The obiect of the invention is to provide locking means [which is automatically released, to en age the operating meansofthe 5;- ap aratus .w en the merchandise has become e austed.i

' 18 illustrated. g .Figure 1 is a front eleq 'on of a part of the mechanism of the apparatus, for postage-stamps orlt lie' -lik'e, w-1th the' outer casin remove and 'in' combination with the com tester": which is shownpartly' 2 in section. Fig. 2"is a side; elevation of the .-coi n tester, partly in "section, the outer cas- .ingbeing'reinovedz Fig. I is aside eleyae ti of a'part of the selling mechanism which shows the connection between. the driv- In the accompanying drawings an exam le of a form for carryingu invention AUTOMATIC COIN-TESTER FOB OOIN-FREED APPARATUS.

. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dad. 27, 1910.

1908, Serial N0.-464,5Q2. Divided and this appbcation filed June 14, 1909, Serial m. 502,174.

nism is operated in a known manner by.--. the gear wheels 8.whichare actuated from the main shaft 9fand which rotate the feeding 55- rollers'5 and 6 simultaneously and in the same direction. Themain shaft 9 is, driven by a chain-wheel. lOandJehain' 11 bymeans of a suitableinotor which is, not. bein an essential part trated in the drawings.) The rollers.' 5,'. 6,

cated in the casmgpart; 7 are automatically;

rotated. by the stamp-strip which lsw-mflfi'ed nforward by the ,rollersin the directionindi? 'cated bythe arrow," The stamp-strip is fed].- 65;

forward a determinate, distance in. known, manner by the rollersfi, 6-,and isseparated into cuts of a determinate len h. Theseparated st rip-part,fal1slinto,a de ivery. opening onthe front sideofthea being. also not ilustrated in the drawings. as itis not; of importance forthis invention,

The coin tester consistsessentiallyvof .two separated parts. jwl 1ich;.the coins thrown in mustv pass successively".v The. one ,part lfi 7 5 is arran directly behind. the. introduc+ ing openlng 15 located .in a -plate l t fixed on the front side of the casing, This part 12 is of a construction well knownaniLoonsists.

of the. invention, notlusp rat he same a attached .upon -whichithe'mechanism for the channel,-19 to letpass tbecoinsithrown The channel 19 or the parts 16,117 formingit are made at the endinanangle 20, asshow-nl, in Fig.,.2,.and .di schar ejntofia chute.;23;ar,-. ranged below ther n. w iehjs ,attgched. in [a suitable manner, for example .bya bracket- 21,t0,3 ,Su portin plate22..fix egl onthe.par 'tition-wal 1. Thisrh'ute leads the coinst. discharging'from the tester 12 tothe second tester 13. The latter consists of a sleeve or. cylinder which, .as is more clearlydescribed lateron, at each operation of theselling mechanism describedjabove by a coin thrown.

in is automatically rotated by ,a part (piits circumference.

. Each of the testers .12 andjlfi has .to.

accomplish a determinate function, i.-e.- the I tester'12'the construction jot-which is well known serves to test the. coins. introduced' in Q respectv to their size, shape and weight, .thati to say it-leadsbnly-suchcoins to the chute 23 whic havethe size, shape, and weightrequired to actuate the. apparatus in 7 30 ing mech anism for thecoiiiftster and the means for the automaticstopping-ofthe ap- P aw e e e el mi ifl t d To a lpartitioii-wall"lfiof the casinginclosing t e' whole'fmechanisniia bracket 2 is automatic deli 'eigingfof the postagestamps, or the'like is. 'supportd.f Fromjhis'mecha msm the peouhargconstruct onfof which, is.

not of importance forthis invention, only 40 shine principal parts'are 'illustrated in the drawings. t consists essentially ofa casing having two side parts 31v ich inclose between them the diverse mean 'forffeeding the stamp-strip 4 and to separate single cuts of it after a coin has been throwngin. The feeding mechanism for the stripcbnsists of.

a'fpai'r of rollers 5, 6 arranged one beneath" the other whichja-re at best how'n in Fig. 3. The front pair 5, 6 is journaledin a sepa- 50 rate and, removable part the casing'3 'to enable an opening or -detachment ofthe feeding mechanism. fee dingmechw.

the regular manner. The second tester 13 the particular combination of which with the tester 12 is an essential feature of the invention, has the function to test the coin introduced in respect to its material, this tester being so arranged and constructed that the coin discharging from the tester 12 at first must fall a determinate height (through the chute 23) before it drops upon the tester l3 and is forwarded from this into a chute 24 which leads the coins to the mechanism actuating automatically by the weight of the coin the driving motor of the vending apparatus. The entering'slot 25 of the chute 24: is located in'such a position in respect to the tester 13 that the coins dropping from the chute 23 upon the tester must have a certain elasticity which causes them to rebound somewhat from the tester whereby they arrive at the entering slot of the chute 24. The discharging-opening 26 of the chute 23'is in a suitable manner enlarged or cut out to rocure a free passage for .the coin reounded. "Qn'the other hand the chute 23 and the entering opening 25 of the chute 24 are arranged inclined to the tester in such a manner that they-lie nearly in the direct1on.of the dropping and rebounding of the coins so that any droppingout of a coin into 30 the interior of the'casing of'the apparatus is prevented. Thus the coin 27 thrown in, if it has the required elasticity, will rebound from the bounding-piece 13, as shown in- Fig. 2, andwill thereby enter into the slot% of the chute 24 as shown in dotted lines at 27. On the contrary, ifa coin is of. bad or' spurious material, it will only slightly rebound and roll down from the piece 13, as shown in dotted lines at 27 and arrive at a conduit 28 which may be so arranged that the bad orspurious coin will be returned to the customer or brought to the usual or a special receptacle for such coins without having released the vending mechanism.-- Spurious coins being held back by the tester 12 and released from it at each operation of the apparatus drop directly from the tester to a catch device 29 which leads back these coins directly to the dclivery opening. The arrows in the draw ings indicate the paths which take the diverse coins passed through the testers.

The mechanism for the automatic operating of the coin testers is the following: Upon the main shaft 9 of the vending mechanism is fixed an cccentricitt) which works against a roller 31 of an oscillating lever 33 attachedrigidlvto a shaft 32 lying parallel to the 'shaftt). The lever 33. rests against a pin 34 which is fastened rigidlv to the arm 35 of an angle-lever 35, 36 which oscillates upon a shaftil'i' jourualed in the c u il partition-wall 1 of the casing. Upon the shaft 31 isa spring 38 which governs the angle lever in such a manner that it always I returns automatically the lever to its'position of rest. Jointly connected with the other end of which is attached to a shaft ll bearing in the plate 22.' The end of the rod 39 is adjustable on the lever 40.1))! i means of a slot 42 and screw 43, to regulate.

the, stroke of the lever 40. end of the lever 40 a pawl H is journaled which is governed by a spring attached to the lever. The pawl meshes with a [ratchet wheel 46 rigidly fastened to the bounding-piece ltl and rotating with it on a shaft 47 hearing in the plate 28. The other arm 36 of the angle-lever works against a pin 18 attached to the movable part 16 of the tester 12, oscillating on the journal 18.

The tester device operates as follows: Aftcr. one has thrown in a coin through the opening 15 and-the same has assed the test- 'ers l2 and 13 in the manner c escribcd before and has arrived through the chute 24, the releasing mechanism of the apparatus and thereby the driving motor is started and the vending mechanism comes in action during which the shaft 9 makes always one whole rotation. Thereby the eccentric 30 attached thereto also rotates once whollyin the di rection of the arrow-in Fig. 3, working against the roller 31 of the lever so that the-latter oscillates aside. Thus the lever moves the pin 3iof the lever arm 35 also oscillates aside whereby its upper arm 36 works against the pin 48 of the tester 12,

Thereby the pawl 44attached to the lower end of the rod moves the ratchet-wheel of the tester 13 forward. .Thus, after eachthrowing in of a coin simultaneous action 0tv both parts of the testing device takes place, 2'. c. by lifting the pin 48 by the lever arm 36 the tester 12 is opened while both parts 16 and -17 are opened (see the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig.1)

'the operation of the apparatus fall out -fron1 the tester without further passing and areled back by the catch device 29 to the ratus is not hindered by coins which are thrown in at a time at which a throwing in shall not take place. l urthermore the bounding-piece 13 is sinnlltaneously rotated thrown in drops upon another. fresh surface of the bounding-piece. Thereby the always correct function of the lattci-"is insured.v Simultaneously at each time an automatic cleaning of thebounding-piece, takes place.

ing-piece a how 50 is supported upon a bracket 49, and the arms of the bow terminate lever arm 35 is fnrthera draw-bar 39 the At the free aside so that further the angle-lever 35, 36

which pin is raised, while the other arm 35 draws forth the -rod 39 connected-therewith.

so that coins which are thrown in during delivery opening of the apparatus. There-'- fore the correct operation of the appaforward by the other-lever so that each coin As the drawings showdieueath the bonndslides along both bowkrrms. The changing of the rebounding surface and the automatic cleaning of the bounding-piece at each throwing in of a coin canses the resultof an utmost and exact o' ration of the tester. If desired the boun ing-piece may also be adjusted lengthwise to vary the bounding-surface also in the direction-of its length. It is held in its position .11 on the shaft 47 by an adjusting screw 51. ver 33 through themain-shaft 9 a further device is simu taneously operated which causes the automatic stoppin of the vending mechanism if the whole ven ing material placed in the a paratus .has assed the mechanism.

' This evice is descrl ed following in referring to the Figs.v 1 and 3. The shaft 32 bears on its other end, opposite to the lever 3.3, an arm 52 the upper end of which is provided'wit-h a pin, preferably of an anguar shape. Furthermore, outside of the casing 3 of the vending mechanism upon a shaft 54 bearing in. the casing 3 a weighted lever 55, 56 is rigidly fixed the upper arm 56 of which has at its outer end an angle-notch 57. The lower arm '55 is heavier than.the

upper so that it has always the tendency to oscillate inthe direction of the arrow' of Fig. 3 and thereby to move the other lever arm 56 downward in the direction of the arrow. Rigid fastencd upon the shaft 54 is further a lever arm 58 situated inside of the vending mechanism which is located between the upper rollers 5 in such a manner that it always slides against the materialstrip 4. which passes through the rollers. As both lever arms 55 and 58 are rigidly con nected with the shaft 54. the lever arm 55 is always retained from its tendency to swing forward in the direction of the arrow, by the lever arm 58 sliding always against the strip, so that the lever arm 56 is held up in a position shown in Fig. 3 in full lines. Now'if the whole of the strip-shaped material placed in the apparatus, has passed the rollers 5, 6 and the lever arm 58 finds no more a support on the strip the lever arms 58, 55 by the overweight of the latter, swing forward into the position shown in Fig. 3

by dottedline t." Thereby the lever arm 56 a direction of the arrow Fig. 3, which movement takes place, as described before, at each throwing in ofa com, the arm 52 swings in y the acting of the le-.

the direction of the rotation of this shaft, 2'. e. in regarding Fig. 3, it swings to the right into the position shown by dotted lines, The delivering of the separated strippieces now takes place in such a manner at every time that strip-piece is separated and delivered which lies between the lower rollers 6, while simultaneously the strip-piece which was before between the upper rollers 5, leaves these rollers and'enters between the lower rollers until it is delivered by a further operation of the apparatus. The arrangement of levers as described is put in action now if there is the last strippart between the upper rollers 5 and the last ut one strip-part to be delivered between the lower rollers 6. In this position of both strip-parts remaining in the apparatus, if a coin is thrown in, the last but one strippart held between the rollers 6 is separated and through the rollers carried outward of the vending mechanism, to the delivery opening. At. the same time the testers are operated in the manner as described before, while the shaft 32 and the lever-arm 52 connected therewith swing in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3, and theJeVer-arm 52 comes into a position indicated by dotted lines. After the delivering of the last but one strip-part y the rollers (3 the last strippart enters be ween these rollers in leaving the rollers 5. Thereby the lever-arm 58 loses and thusthe shaft 32 rests also in the position of action. Thus also the levers 33 and 35, 36 remain in their position of operation indicated by dotted, lines in Fig. 3, so that on the one hand the tester 12 is held in the opened position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. l, and on the other hand the ratchet mechanism 39, 4:0, 44, 46v for the tester re- -mains stopped. Thus, before the apparatus is filled fresh with strip-material and the lever-arm 56 is released from the pin of the arm 52 by the control-oflicer, a further 0 crating of the apparatus is preve'nted, as tie coins which may be further thrown in drop from the open tester 12 into the catchdevice 29 and are therefore led back to the delivery opening of the apparatus withouthaving any influence upon the mechanism. The essential feature of the invention in view of this arrangement is, the combination of the testers with the stopping mechanism and the common operating of all three mechanisms by only one shaft, namely by the a nearly the same effects.

' -What I claim is:

1. In coin-controlled apparatus, a cointesting device open to receive coins and operable to deliver them at either of two dif-- ferent points, and merchandise delivering means operatively connected to said device to provide movements thereto, said device being positionable to deliver coins at but one of said points upon exhaustion of the merchandise being tested.

2. In coin-controlled apparatus, a cointesting device open to receive coins and operable to deliver them at either of two diflierent points, merchandise delivering means operatively connected 'to said device to provide movements thereto, and a detecting device, Said latter device being operably positionable to automatically position the testing device to deliver coins at but one ofsaid olnts upon exhaustion of thehmrchandise eing vended.

3. In a coin-controlled apparatus, a pivoted cointester, a rotatable coin tester, an operating shaft for the merchandise delivery means, means openated by said shaft for oscillating said pivoted coin; tester,

means whereby oscillation of the pivoted coin tester causes partial rotation of said rotatable coin tester, a pivoted weighted element normally engaging the merchandise and held inoperative thereby and means whereby when 40 the merchandise is exhausted and said pivh oted weighted element has been released said 4 .shaft will be locked against operation.

4. In a coin-controlled apparatus, incom- I bination with coin-controlled deliveryoperating means for vending the merchandise in strip form, means for automatically locking said first means against m0vement,when the merchandise has become exhausted, a coin catch device leading tothe delivery open.-

ing of the apparatus, and means whereby when said first, ineans is locked the coin will be placed in said coin catch device to be re turned thereby to the delivery opening.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' HEINRICH VVOLLHEIM. lVitne'sses: V

WILH. GoDEN, Hon. HAENICHEN. 

